


Do Spiders Explode in Space

by PrinceofRats



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, I'll add more tags as I figure this stuff out, Outer Space, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-05-08 10:44:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14692559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinceofRats/pseuds/PrinceofRats
Summary: It's summer break and Peter finally gets the opportunity to spend some quality time with Tony Stark...until things go wrongNext thing he knows he's waking up in an unfamiliar place with new sights, sounds, and people.NOTE: Infinity War and Thor: Ragnorak have not happened!





	1. Chapter 1

A few months had passed since Peter had dealt with Vulture and quite a few things had happened in that time span. For one, Aunt May kind of found out about the whole “Spider-Man” secret and boy, she wasn’t pleased. He genuinely thought that she would never let up, especially when she decided it would be a great idea to give a ‘friendly’ call to Tony Stark.

Eventually, things did work out. For a while, his patrols were limited and even now he still had a curfew. Soon enough, he turned 16, and just under a month ago his spring semester of school ended, meaning he now had an entire summer to himself. Tony had convinced Aunt May to allow Peter to stay for over half of his summer at the Compound as an intern. It had its ups and downs. It wasn’t everything he dreamed it would be, but it wasn’t as bad as some of the internships he had heard of. Mr. Stark didn’t send him on coffee runs so thank god for that. As opposed to the fake one from before, this internship was real and from what Tony had told May, he would be learning from him and he would be granted access to one of the labs, of course, with multiple limitations so he didn’t return home with a cast or a missing eye.

All in all, things were actually beginning to look nice. Aunt May wasn’t as pissed about him being Spider-Man, mostly worried if anything; he was about to go into his Junior year of high school; and he got to work with Tony Stark himself! Peter had learned though that the more time he spent with Tony, the more he saw the man as more of a mentor than some huge celebrity that journalists loved to talk about. Which was surprisingly nice.

Heading to the lab was almost second nature. No matter how little sleep he got, Peter’s body seemed to carry him down the halls and towards the lab that he and Tony tended to work in. Stepping inside, he flashed the man a big smile. “Hey Mr. Stark! We still working on more compact canisters for my webs?”

Without even looking up Tony continued to tinker with some weird box like thing. “Nope. As fun as that would be, we need to work on a project that I’ve kept under wraps for quite a long time, and I have already spent way too many sleepless nights on the damn thing so I want to get it done today.” The project was about five feet tall and was a sleek white color. There was an octagonal base and had an opening with six walls. Currently, he seemed to be getting a roof on the object, leaving the opening alone. “Also, if I hear another Mr. Stark while you’re here for the summer I will replace every item in your closet with something with whatever it's called. Hello Puppy.” Followed by Tony lazily waving his hand in the air. He probably did know what the proper name was. 

With a playful eyeroll, Peter walked over to the machine, but didn't get too close simply due to having absolutely no idea what the hell that thing was. All Peter knew was that it looked cool as fuck and that he really wanted to see it in action. 

Before Peter could ask him what the machine was for, Tony was already walking over to a mini fridge, running a hand through his hair. “You want anything to drink? Apparently we have to drink a certain amount of fluids per day-did you know that- apparently I haven't been reaching that, and a certain few people have been on my ass about it.” Before Peter could really respond Tony had gotten both of them a bottle of water, one that Peter deemed too fancy. Who the hell would pay an extra two dollars for a bottle of water with an unusually exotic name? Walking back over, Tony spoke up once more. “Bet you want to know what it does, right? Of course you do. It's the only one that exists.” 

Tossing the water bottle to him, Tony turned his body so he could easily look at Peter and the machine at the same time. “It doesn't have a name yet, but the plan is that with certain objects, I will be able to have one of these machines in one location and basically send over certain parts or pieces of equipment over to an identical machine in another location. Of course right now I need to figure out how to scan the machine and make an exact copy that is functional. It doesn’t have a name yet, lately I’ve been calling it S.H.I.T. Which means Stupid Hindrance...okay it doesn’t really have a name. I haven’t been able to sleep for a week and I’ve probably had fifteen cups of coffee since uh...yesterday. Speaking of that.” Turning to look up at the ceiling. “F.R.I.D.A.Y. get me some more of that coffee from Belgium shipped in. Get like. Twenty bags.” 

Finally turning back to Peter he nodded. “So uh, hows about you, you know, possibly help me out with this-” Before he could really finish his statement he was interrupted by an over enthusiastic voice.

“Oh my gosh Mr. Stark! Thank you so much for choosing to have me help you with one of your new inventions. Trust me, I won’t let you down.” Peter maybe spoke a bit too quickly for Tony, causing him to sigh...or did he sigh for another reason? Peter really couldn’t tell.

“Look. You need to chill because my brain can’t handle this much activity. No touching without me in the room or before asking what the hell it is. Also, no turning it on until we are done. Capiche?” This was all out of lo- protecting the mother bear’s nephew. It’s not like Tony had an attachment to the kid and he totally only cared about having Aunt May not scream at him. Again. 

“Now come over here and I’ll show you what I have going on.” In an instant, Peter had joined by his side, and that’s how the next week and a half went. Peter would wake up a bit too early, go off and exercise for a bit at the request of Tony, and then after lunch he’d join Tony in the lab and work on S.H.I.T. 

Of course, with the permission of Mr. Stark, he would also go out on patrol a bit, occasionally trying out some new settings and other things that Mr. Stark had decided to add on. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t and even Mr. Stark would agree. One was an idea for some weird boomerang web combination. While the idea did seem good, it kind of fell flat. Maybe Peter just needed some practice, but all he knew was that some poor pigeon behind him ended up getting attached to the wall. 

Back at the compound, things were going pretty damn well, aside from a few issues Peter had heard about. Apparently, some people believed that this invention was an excuse to keep ‘Tony cooped up so he can think on how to fix the accords’. Rumors stated that the Sokovia Accords were being rewritten to try and fix the fact that it caused more problems than it helped. News reporters weren’t exactly the most trustworthy and even Peter recognized it, so he chose to take everything with a grain of salt. There was talk of Captain America possibly returning, but Peter didn’t dare mention it, deciding that there was probably a reason that Tony wanted Peter to spend his mornings elsewhere. Even if the man wouldn’t admit it, Peter knew Tony was working hard on something. 

It was Monday around three o’clock that the two seemed to be nearing the phase of actually trying the machine out. Normally, Monday wasn’t a night that Peter would be allowed out on patrol, but apparently, there was an influx of crime on Mondays due to people picking up on his new schedule. So, Peter was currently wearing his suit under a pair of jeans and a baggie t-shirt that read ‘I was going to tell a Sodium and Hydrogen Pun...but NAH”, Which earned a sigh and almost a facepalm from Tony. 

Stepping aside to grab a couple of tools and a new bottle of water, Tony spoke up. “You haven’t talked much about school. How’s the decathlon thing going?” Of course he took the time to actually learn how to say it. On other occasions he would tease Peter about his interests, but when the kid showed that he truly enjoyed something, Tony chose to take it seriously to show that he too, was interested. 

“Oh you know. New captain. She’s my uh, my friend so that’s nice. Yeah...her names MJ.” Tony nodded along, making a comment about her being the ‘really quiet one’ and grumbled about being thankful that she wasn’t the one who hacked into his multi-million dollar suit. 

Speaking of the suit, Tony looked at him for a few seconds, his temple creasing. “Are you...are you wearing the suit under your clothes? You know you can change before going out of here, right? Here, set the mask over on the counter so I can adjust a couple of things before you leave. I need to adjust your microphone.” It only took a couple of seconds, so Peter moved to set the mask down on the counter a few feet away before returning back to the machine. 

Walking back over, Tony set a few things down before glancing at the machine. “You keep working on that. I think, hell, I absolutely know what it needs.” Heading away to another end of the room once more, Peter turned to face the machine, still working on it. He had much thinner fingers, allowing him to work on the smaller areas. Adjusting a few things he grinned. 

“Hey Mr. Stark! I think I got it!” Before he could flip the switch, Tony came jogging over, placing what he hand in his pocket, a tiny screwdriver, on the platform. 

“Great,” Yet again, before Tony could move to flip it his head snapped up. “Shit,” And without any explanation he was off once more, probably to find something to take something out of the oven. Peter wasn’t so sure. 

Letting out a sigh, Peter stared at the machine. Of course, the one time he manages to figure it out, Mr. Stark has to go and do something. Running a finger along the machine, he tried his best to clean off the ‘dust’ from it. Carefully, he worked around the on button. Tony had wanted to make it voice command, but doing a button seemed a bit easier to Peter at first, so the man “reluctantly” agreed. 

Still ‘dusting off’ the machine, he continued moving a bit too close to the button until it happened. He could feel his ‘spidey-sense’ go off before a loud crash of glass came from somewhere else, followed by a loud ‘Shit’. Quite literally jumping a foot, he accidentally pushed slightly into the machine, pressing down on the button. 

Electricity sparked from the machine, and a glowing light began to appear. Believing the machine wasn’t fully functional yet, Peter only took a small step back before turning around to look for Mr. Stark. The man had finally looked over and started to rush over but it was too late. The light started to engulf Peter and the boy could feel something closing around him. He tried to scream for the other man, but all that could leave him was “Mr-” before the blinding light lit up the entire room, followed by the sound of sparks and finally an explosion.

When the light had finally died down, all that remained was a smoking machine with burnt marks and many other damages. As Tony stared at the spot that Peter once stood in, all he saw was absolutely nothing. No burn marks on the floor. No trace that Peter had once been in the same room as him, no trace that he had even touched the machine. 

“Fuck.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this one is a long one. Sorry about the massive delay, I had to recover from finals and then took a 10 day long trip (I did see a live-taping of a show though!)  
> But I am back!
> 
> Join Peter as he navigates wherever he was transported to.

The first things that Peter could really feel were a pounding sensation in his head and ringing in his ears. His eyes opened slightly but he quickly shut them, groaning out due to his entire body aching and the blinding light that was shining in through the damaged roof above him. It took him a few minutes to really regain himself because of how overwhelmed he felt. The ringing had ended and the pounding was almost gone. Thanks to him having his powers for over a year now, he was still able to tune out most of the sounds that weren’t in the immediate vicinity. He couldn’t, however, block out the strange feeling in his stomach. 

Finally, his eyes opening and slowly sitting up, he began to look around himself. It didn’t take a genius to realize that he was absolutely not in the lab and that Tony was nowhere to be found. Trying to stand up, but stumbling around as he did so, Peter yelled out, “Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark where are you?” The panic was evident and as he spoke, his voice cracked slightly.

“Mr. Stark please.” He hoped that this was some practical joke or that he was asleep, but things felt far too real to be an illusion or something from his dreams. The unfamiliar smells around him were too intense to be made up. The odd sounds he could faintly hear were too obscure to come from his subconscious. 

Staggering over to a table by the wall he tried to steady himself by pressing down onto its surface. With a snap it fell to the ground, nearly taking Peter with it. Gasping, he pressed his back up against the wall, trying to calm himself down. Taking deep breaths, he actually started to look at the room around him. It was small and from what he could tell, it was a shop, or used to be. An empty bottle or two hinted that people had stayed there recently, but the shop aspect was long gone. 

Even with that bit of information, Peter still had absolutely no idea where the hell he was. Looking down at himself he saw that he was still wearing the same clothes as before, and he still had his Spider-Man suit underneath his civvies. 

Thinking over things, he started to realize what had happened. Even if he had no idea where he was, he could remember that after he accidentally turned on the machine, lights surrounded him, and he blacked out. Which meant: this was all his fault. “Oh god, Mr. Stark. He’s going to kill me. He told me not to touch the machine a-and I did! And oh god Aunt May.” He knew that his aunt wouldn’t be able to handle losing yet another person in her life, yet here he was, leaving her because of his own stupid mistake. 

Peter knew panicking wouldn’t help him in this situation, but he couldn’t help it. Everything felt tight around him and it was hard to breath and he was all alone and he might not ever see anyone else again and-

And this wasn’t helping him. Peter was sixteen for christ sake! He was almost an adult! “Okay...okay it’s fine. I can just figure out where I am. I’ve fought the Vulture and held Captain America’s shield so this is nothing.” He wasn’t too sure if he believed his own words. He was hungry, though, and anxious. Something about not knowing where he was made him nervous. “Yeah. Once I know where I am I can, you know, find a way to get a little bit of money to contact Mr. Stark. Payphones have to exist still in some places. Then he can get me home. Yeah.” He made himself a mental list of sorts: find out where he is, get enough money to make a phone call, and make that phone call to Tony Stark. This would be a lot easier if he still had his mask with him. 

For the next few minutes, Peter worked on gathering up some supplies from what was left in the shop. A large majority had already been taken, but he did manage to find a few...cans? They weren’t what he would call cans, but they did have pictures of food which seemed good enough for him. Along with that he found a rather ratty blanket. Searching in a back room he found a satchel. Smiling to himself, he brought everything into the center of the room before packing it all away. 

Thinking on it, Peter did consider staying inside the building just in case Tony happened to find a way to open up a portal right where he was...was it a portal? He didn’t know. Specifics didn’t matter. He also thought that it might be good to see where he was and at least try to survive for however long he would be here. 

Standing up with his bag hung over his shoulder, Peter walked over to the doorway that would lead outside, but hesitated momentarily. Taking a deep breath, he finally opened up the one door separating him from the outside world he had yet to see.

Taking a few steps outside his eyes widened as he looked around him. In the immediate vicinity there were a few other buildings, all seeming to be old restaurants or shops, but off in the distance he saw glowing lights and a massive city far more advanced than any he’d seen before. Even from the distance he could tell how updated the buildings were, especially compared to the New York City skyline he grew up with. It looked so incredible, but where could he be? Possibly Tokyo? The building styles didn’t really match anything he had seen in pictures or videos. 

Peter decided that the only way to truly know where he ended up was to go into the city and see for himself. Readjusting the bag on his shoulder he made his way towards the city, noticing what looked like a couple of planes landing and taking off, but none ever got close enough for him to truly make out their shape. 

The walk was longer than he thought, but as he got closer he was able to make things out, and at first, he refused to believe his eyes. Once he got truly into the city though, he knew that this was all too real. People of all sorts bustled around him, few if any heading anywhere near the direction he first came in. To put it bluntly, he was surrounded by aliens. Some depictions in tv shows and movies seemed accurate while others were far off. A few even looked human! As he worked his way deeper into the city the buildings changed from what appeared to be shops or restaurants to extravagant buildings that Peter couldn’t even assume the purpose of. 

It was all a lot to take in and it was hard to understand at first. The first thing he could connect it to was the Starship Enterprise on Star Trek where alien creatures of all types met...but if this was anything similar to that, did it mean that he was in space? 

People shoved past him, but eventually he managed to step off to the side, walking over to a blank wall, trying his best to clear his head. Staring up at the sky, he could clearly see that what he thought were airplanes were differently styled space crafts, coming in all shapes and sizes. 

This had to be a dream. A weird dream from some medicine he had to take after the explosion of the machine...but how could a dream be this real? Just listening he could hear multiple different languages. It was weird, to say the least, and in this moment, Peter felt completely overwhelmed, unsure of what to do. 

The urge to conceal his identity did appear though and he glanced at the makeshift bag. Hesitating, Peter reached into the bag and withdrew the cloth he had grabbed before. Carefully, he worked on wrapping it around his neck and face like a scarf, covering up his nose and below, only showing his eyes. 

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, Peter finally joined the evermoving crowd once more, heading even deeper into the city. It was a bit hard to deal with all of the sounds, but he was able to stay calm. 

Looking around, he started to realize that he must be in the marketplace. All around him he could hear different conversations. The language barrier did make it hard, but thanks to tone of voice and actually looking a the people, he could understand that this wasn’t too different from Earth. All around him people were debating over prices, purchasing goods, and advertising whatever it was they offered. 

The smell of freshly made food and spices was almost intoxicating and Peter began to realize how absolutely hungry he was. How was he going to buy food if he didn’t have any money and he couldn’t even communicate to understand what it was they were selling? Letting out a sigh of frustration, he continued on his way, searching for anyone that sold technology in hopes of finding a device for translating. 

Eventually he did manage to find someone who seemed to be selling various forms of technology, including what appeared to be a...gun? His experience with the Vulture did help him out with recognizing weird weapons, but even these were way too weird to really recognize. While some did have a screen, others merely had a button or two. If Peter had learned anything from all those old Sci-Fi shows, never push mysterious buttons that you don’t know the purpose of. 

The shopkeeper seemed to take notice of him and started to talk to him, gesturing to different objects. Unfortunately, English didn’t seem to be a language that the man understood, or maybe it wasn’t even on the man’s translating device, so everything came out in a gibberish. For once, Peter finally seemed to understand what it was like being in a new country- or, well, new planet- where he couldn’t understand a single word that the people said. 

Blushing due to embarrassment, he tried to stutter out “I-I’m sorry, I don’t-” But his words were quickly cut off by the faint sound of a scream. All those times in Queens where he had learned to block out the sounds of the city and focus on screams or yells finally seemed to pay off. Taking off in a run, he left the seller alone, hoping that he hadn’t just made an enemy. 

As he ran, he tried his best to not knock anyone over and it actually worked. Once inside an alleyway, Peter climbed up the side of the building, using his sticking ability to do so. On the roof, the view of the city was breathtaking, but he had no time to enjoy the scenery. 

Moving on, he jumped from roof to roof, heading in the direction of the scream. As he made a few jumps the scream was suddenly muffled, causing Peter to speed up his pace, but also making him become a bit more clumsy with his jumps. 

Finally, he made it over to the ledge of one of the roofs, now fully into the heart of the city. Looking down into the alley below, a group of men, or what appeared to be men, had two young girls surrounded. A man stood behind the girls, holding onto their bound wrists and the girls mouths had been covered by a cloth. Even with all this, the two girls managed to still clutch onto satchels, which were still filled with something Peter couldn’t quite make out yet. The men seemed to be yelling at them, speaking in the same language as before. Possibly it was the native one? 

Taking a deep breath, Peter pulled his scarf higher up on his face and tightened it, making sure to conceal most of his identity. Setting his bag down on the rooftop, Peter took one final step forward before jumping down, landing behind the man who had a tight hold of the girls. 

Even if the men couldn’t understand him, Peter just had to talk a little bit. 

“Let me guess, you want their lunch money, right?” With a swift punch the man was down. Hurriedly, he ripped the binds on the girls’ wrists and gave them a light push in order to tell them to leave. As the two stepped over to the wall, Peter only assumed they had gotten the hint. 

Clearly, the men present really didn’t expect someone to “fall from the sky” as almost all glanced up, searching for what Peter could only guess would be either a ship or more people to aid him. That really didn’t matter though, because it gave him the perfect opportunity to shoot a web at two of the remaining three men. While he wouldn’t be able to easily replicate his formula in space, he didn’t see why he couldn’t use a small bit right now. Yanking the two men to the ground he shot one final web, connecting the two to the floor. 

Before he could deal with the last guy, the man raised one of the weapons, prepared to possibly kill Peter, but suddenly the man was shot by what looked like a stunning weapon. Glancing over at the girls who had very much not left he saw that one had a small device in her hand, which most likely came from the bag. “How….how did you-?” But he was cut off by one of them grabbing his hand and pulling him into a brand new location, leaving the four men all alone as a distant sound that resembled a siren grew louder. 

As the three ran, the girls were saying something to him, but of course Peter had no idea what the hell they were trying to communicate. Eventually, they picked up on this and chose to talk to each other instead, still taking Peter along with them. 

Eventually, the three made it into another shopping area, one different from before. Peter couldn’t look around too much though as he was suddenly pulled into a building. Stepping inside, he almost gasped. The room was like the technology stall from before on steroids. 

At the sound of people entering a man emerged and smiled at the two girls, belting out, “Gali! Carina!” followed by a few other statements. Peter could only assume the man was their father, considering he pulled the two in for a big hug. The man looked over at him and turned to his daughters, asking them...questions? What Peter hoped were good questions. 

Letting go of his daughters, the man approached Peter and looked him up and down. Glancing over at his daughters, he spoke up once more. All Peter could really do was stand there quietly, trying his best to, well, look good. 

The three talked a bit, gesturing over to him so much that it was almost worrying. After what sounded like a command, one of the daughters ran over to the far end of the room and brought over a small device. She handed it over to her father, and the man got way, way too close to Peter. 

The man’s tone of voice calmed to almost a soothing tone as he showed Peter the device before handing it over to him. Peter watched as he then made hand motions, pointing to the back of his neck and then pointing once more to the device. Peter hesitated before he slowly brought the device to the back of his neck and pressed the two buttons on opposite ends of the device before he felt a pinch. 

He made eye contact with the father once more, not daring to talk. 

“There. Now I can thank you properly.” Peter gasped as he stared at him...did he actually understand this alien language? “That there is a translator. Should be able to translate any language...well, any language except whatever it is that you speak. Surprised my daughters couldn’t talk to ya, so you must be from pretty far away.” Smiling, the man turned to face the two girls. “These two were trading spare parts with my brother. He gives stuff to me that he thinks I can use and I do the same with him. Those assholes decided to step in the way, so it was nice to have you around to save them.” 

He looked Peter up and down once more before walking over to a different table. “You really, really need an upgrade bud.” He shook his head and brought over what looked like a really decked out nerf gun. “This is a basic gun. It’ll help you out in a pinch. I’m gonna assume you know how to work it.” He handed it over to Peter and paused. “Pardon for the rudeness, my name is Norrin.” Apparently, alien customs weren’t all that different from what he was used to as he then held his hand out.

Finally relaxed, Peter reached out and shook the other man’s hand, having put the gun away in his bag. “My name is Peter.” It felt weird to finally be able to speak. “Thank you so much for the translator, really, it means a lot.” 

Peter looked around the shop and felt a bit awkward. Should he go? Before he could even really take a step towards the door and say a goodbye, Norrin spoke up. “Hows about you stay for dinner? My wife would probably like to thank you herself. She’s making food upstairs.” The man threw him a grin and took one of the satchels brought by his daughters. 

Peter already felt as though the translator was too big of a gift, but food as well? “Really, you don’t need to do that.” Norrin shook his head, not looking up from the bag as he pulled out various components. 

“Nonsense. You are a foreigner, yes? Therefore, you must experience what this planet has to offer. Of course, we do take some spices from other places, but still, just as good. It’s the least my family could do.” 

As the four waited for the mother, Shareen, Peter was shown around the shop. The technology that the man had to offer was nothing like Peter had ever seen Mr. Stark, or anyone for that matter, create. Not that he doubted Tony’s abilities, of course. These people just seemed to have far more resources that allowed them to create such things, like an antigravity device. That  
was cool. 

Finally, a woman who resembled Gali and Carina emerged from a back room. “Dinner’s ready.” Her eyes landed on Peter and she smiled. “You’re welcome to stay.” She looked at Norrin and her tone changed. “But I do want to hear what happened. Don’t you try to lie either, I can read that face.” With that she disappeared once more, only for Peter to be ushered into the back room as well and finally up a metal staircase. 

He was greeted with a main room, and connected to it was a dining room. Glancing over at the dining room he could also see a very futuristic looking kitchen. It felt weird. Their home was much like his own, with a living room and everything. All of the depictions of alien life in the old sci-fi movies showed people living in gross caves. Peter couldn’t understand how humans were so wrong. This family was just as human as him- well, in how they behaved. 

The strong smell of food was calling him, and soon Norrin as well, and he was left alone in the main room. Peter’s face reddened and he hurried into the dining area to find that everyone but the dad had sat down. One of the daughters, Gali possibly, pulled out a chair for him and Peter took a seat. 

Norrin emerged with a few platters of family style food. Five plates had been laid out, as well as what Peter was assumed was various types of utensils, including chopsticks. Once seated, Norrin invited everyone to eat and, like human families, the bowls were passed around, allowing Peter to take whatever he liked. 

Some of the foods had Earth counterparts while others looked strange and new, but Peter wasn’t one to shy away from unfamiliar things. Which was a good thing, since he discovered that almost everything was absolutely delicious, save for one food. When Norrin noticed his aversion to it he laughed and stated that “even I don’t like it, but my wife and daughters love it.” 

Once everyone had mostly eaten, Shareen leaned back in her chair and said, “So, what exactly happened today in the marketplace?” 

Gali was the one to speak up. “We were bringing home the stuff from Uncle Jo and a bunch of assho- jerks jumped us! But Peter jumped down out of nowhere and helped us out! He couldn’t understand us, though, so we brought him home since Dad has translators for sale. We thought he could use one.” 

The conversation went on, with Peter receiving a thank you from Shareen. Somehow, the conversation shifted to being one about where Peter was from and about the planet itself. 

Fiddling with his shirt, Peter shrugged. “I’m from a planet very far from here. It’s not too different from this one, I think. We don’t have translators, though, since we don’t get too many visitors.” Hopefully that sounded good. 

Norrin smiled and nodded. “Well, no matter, welcome to Zatryria! I moved here when I was about your age, hoping to start a cool shop with my brother. Business went so well that we made two shops on opposite ends of the city. And let me tell you, this place used to be only about 50 thousand residents. Now, it’s over a million! We do a lot of trading here and it’s a good hub for visitors, since we have multiple allies in the galaxy; it’s really great and a wonderful place for our family. The school isn’t too far, so the girls get to go and get an education. I’ve already started working on teaching them how to repair equipment so if they want to, they can help me out in the shop.” 

Shareen nodded and added in, “Of course, we won't make them continue on with the business. I’m a teacher myself. Whatever it is that they want to do, we are fine with it. We just want to make sure they get a proper education to give them the opportunity to achieve their goals.” 

From what Peter had gathered by now, the family seemed wonderful. While Norrin and Shareen did bicker on small occasions, it felt genuine and playful. The concept of a family clearly was a thing even in space. 

The five continued to talk, Peter asking questions about other planets and about the species that lived on Zatryria. Each family member would take turns answering his questions and adding on even more knowledge about the planet they lived on. 

Eventually, the sun set, and the conversations came to a lull. Standing up, Peter helped Norrin carry the empty platters into the kitchen. “Now, you’re allowed to come here whenever you’d like. Our home is open to you. Just check by the shop first; one of us should be home.” Norrin smiled and handed him a small bundle of food before walking down to the shop with Peter. “Stay safe, okay?” 

“I will! Don’t worry.” With that, Peter walked out the door and sighed, smiling to himself. Maybe things really wouldn’t be all that bad. 

He walked for a while before scaling one of the buildings. Settling himself down on the roof, he leaned up against the wall and looked out at the glowing city. It felt like New York City in a way, with the city still bustling even when the sun had gone down. 

It would take a while for Peter to get home, he knew this by now, but it didn’t seem all that bad. He already had a good start with the translator. The least he could do was help out the people of the city while he searched for a way to call home and, hey, he had Norrin to go to. Maybe he could help Peter to find a calling device.

Either way, all he could do was make the most out of his situation and continue his hero work while he was away from home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So...not a Peter chapter! Instead, a Tony one! Whenever I post a chapter like this, it wont follow the same timeline as Peter's and they will just continue from where the last Tony chapter left off. Hopefully that is understandable.  
> I'm so glad that you guys are taking this story well! Thank you for all the comments and kudos it really means a lot and makes me feel motivated to make the next chapter. 46 Kudos is honestly way more than I ever thought I would get, so thank you again. Chapter 4 has been planned, I'm just having some troubles with the opening, but it should be up sometime next week, probably Thursday or Friday.  
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

“Fuck.” 

That was the first word that came to Tony Stark’s mind when Peter fucking Parker just vanished. Running a hand through his hair, he slowly took a few steps forward. “FRIDAY. Scan the room right now. Is he...still here? Just invisible? A bunch of particles? Fuck me…please tell me that’s not his ashes on the floor.” 

The female voice responded a few seconds later. “My scan shows no signs of Mr. Parker in the room or the building. The marks left on the floor seem to be left from the explosion, not from Mr. Parker.” A sigh of relief left Tony before realization dawned on him and he started pacing. 

“Your heart rate has elevated, Boss, would you like me to contact someone?” FRIDAY’s helpful voice commented. 

“Of course my heart rate has elevated! I was trusted with a whole entire damn kid, and for the second time in my life he’s gone and done...something! First the Vulture...god, the Vulture. What kind of high schooler climbs on the outside of a damn airplane?!” He made his way back over to the machine. “God dammit. Why does he have to be so smart? This would all be fine if he hadn’t screwed around with the machine.” 

Tony quieted down as he looked at the machine, not daring to touch it. A few minutes of silence passed of him standing stock-still with a hand over his mouth, contemplating everything in his head. Peter had somehow wormed his way in and found a place in his stubborn old heart. Of course he just had to go and screw up the new relationship that he had formed with the kid. Logically, Tony knew it was wrong to blame this on Peter; the kid was only trying to help, and judging by the scans from FRIDAY, he kind of had. Somehow, Peter might have accidentally figured out how to transport an object, but that bit of knowledge really didn’t help the current situation at all. 

Just then, FRIDAY’s familiar voice appeared once more. “Due to your silence and still elevated heart rate, I have contacted one of the people in your ‘Emergency Contact’ list.”

A short pause followed as Tony thought for a second, clearly confused. “Since when did I have an ‘Emergency Contact’ list?” 

“I decided to create one since you refuse to receive help and stay up for a length of time that exceeds the recommended amount for a man your age.” God dammit, why did Tony have to put part of himself into his AI? Sassy little shit.

And that’s when he remembered. Crap. Who the hell did she choose to contact? “FRIDAY….who did you contact?” 

“I have been told to not tell you. Also that you need to ‘Get your ass down to the the communal area with a bottle of water so you don’t drink away your stress.” 

An offended look appeared on his face as he trudged over to the mini fridge, grabbing himself a water bottle. “I wasn’t going to drink.” Normally, he would’ve fought back against whoever had sent the message, but Peter’s life was at stake. It didn’t even matter who was contacted. He’d have to talk to May at one point or another, and possibly to a few other individuals, depending on how bad the situation truly was. He couldn’t deal with this alone, and as much as it hurt his ego, if it meant Peter being brought safely, he was willing to do anything.

He made his way down to what was basically a gigantic living room and sat himself down. Only about 10 seconds passed before he stood up and started to pace, occasionally moving to adjust a vase, adjust his outfit. Anything that could keep his mind occupied for even a second or two. 

Time went on. What seemed like an hour was in reality only about ten or fifteen minutes. FRIDAY didn’t bother to alert Tony until he heard the ding of the elevator followed by, “Colonel James Rhodes has arrived.” 

Looking up, Tony let out a sigh. “Thanks FRIDAY. Could’ve warned me a bit sooner, like maybe when he actually got into the elevator.” He wanted to make himself not look like a nervous wreck, which was pretty much impossible. 

In any other situation, Rhodey would’ve cracked a joke, but just seeing the look on Tony’s face caused the man to become serious. “Tony, I get that you’re anxious, but sit down. Doing this to yourself won’t help the situation.” As he spoke, he walked around the couches and took a seat. “Just sit down and explain to me what happened.”

It took him a minute or so, but finally Tony took a seat a few feet away from Rhodey. He ran his hands along his face. “I fucked up. I really, really fucked things up.” He shook his head and laughed nervously. “What all did FRIDAY tell you? Except that I panicked and felt like I had just killed someone.” 

Rhodey paused, prepared for Tony to talk or make an outburst. “Well, what I was told doesn’t matter. I want to help you, Tones. This is clearly bothering you and I want to help. Please, start from the beginning.” He let out a sigh. “Who was it that was involved?” 

Thankfully, Rhodey had actually met Peter around the kid’s 16th birthday. Boy did Tony get an earful when Rhodey found out he had brought him to Germany. It was actually Peter who told him, thankfully, sparing Tony from having yet another person angry at him. It was safe to stay that Tony felt comfortable enough to mention Peter.

“The kid. You know who I’m talking about.” He leaned forward and placed his face in his hands. “I already fucked up by taking him to Germany, then I fucked up again by taking away his suit. I thought I was finally doing something right when I invited him to work with me over the summer. But guess what that did?” He leaned backwards and shook his head. “I was working on a new invention. I wanted to revolutionize how materials were sent around the world. That brilliant kid was working on it. I don’t even know what he did, I haven’t reviewed the recordings, but he did something and then bam. He was gone.” His voice had become shaky and much slower than before. “I couldn’t stop him. He just turned the damn thing on and vanished. If I hadn’t invented the thing he’d be here. If I had moderated him more he’d be here. If I acted like a responsible guardian at all, he would be fine!” His voice raised and it took every amount of control in his body to not stand up. 

It took a bit for Rhodey to speak. What was he supposed to say? What was going to help? “First of all, I know you are going to hate me for this, but I need to contact Pepper.” Before Tony could protest, Rhodey was already speaking again. “I know this isn’t what you want, but we need as much help as we can get. You need as much help as we can get.” It really did hurt to see Tony so distraught. 

“What exactly is the status of the machine? If it’s at least partially intact, we could repair it back to where it was before Peter changed things. Then, you can follow the tapes to try and recreate whatever he did.” That would also mean that Tony would want to be sent wherever Peter went, which really didn’t sit well with Rhodey. “I’d rather not have you disappear as well. For all we know, Peter could already be on his way back right now. You and I both know that the kid is smart. What if he got home only to find out that you disappeared?” 

The question caused Tony to go quiet. His foot tapped on the ground, showing how anxious he was. “I need to own up for my mistakes.” He sighed and chewed on his lip. “The machine is...decent. If I don’t sleep, it’ll take a me about five days to bring it back to the state that it was before Peter and I started working on it. Then I will need to take all those days up to just get to where we were earlier today. And then I have to review the footage and try to replicate whatever happened.” He shook his head. Saying it out loud only seemed to scare Tony more. The task seemed so daunting. 

“This is why I said we should contact Pepper. She is the best person to go to. You can’t deal with this alone, Tony. I keep telling you that. I want you to be at least decent when he finally comes home.” Rhodey stood up and dusted off his pants. “You stay there, and don’t move. I’m going to call Pepper.” But before he could walk to leave the room, Tony had stood up himself.

“Nope. My fault. You sit down or get yourself a drink; I need to be the adult and take responsibility for my fuck up.” God, was Pepper going to be stressed to see that Tony Stark was calling her during her meeting, but dammit, Peter mattered more than a meeting that was probably just about ‘What Font Is Best’. 

Tony didn’t even look back to see what Rhodey had decided to do as he had already stepped out into the hall. He pulled out his phone and waited. He waited for five minutes before a familiar voice appeared once more. 

“Boss, you appear to be in distress again. Would you like for me to place the call for you?” Even if she was only an A.I. the concern was still evident in her voice. 

“No...no it’s fine.” And with that, he pressed a few buttons and pulled up Pepper’s number. The dial tone only lasted a few seconds when her familiar voice came on the other line.

“Tony. You and I both know that I have meetings right now. You could’ve called me during my lunch break, or later on today.” He could assume she was shaking her head and already pacing. 

It was hard for him to speak- harder than it was to speak to Rhodey. Maybe because he couldn’t see her reactions. “Sorry. Something came up and...and I need your help.” 

Luckily, Pepper was very talented at reading the tone of a person’s voice as she became quieter and serious, less annoyed than before. “What’s wrong? I’m already booking a flight home. I’ll let them know that something came up. Just...continue talking.” He heard the sound of her muting her own microphone, but knew that it was for the best. She was still listening. He could trust her enough to believe that. 

“Well…” He said it once, why couldn’t he just say it again? “The kid is gone. Pepper, Peter is gone.” His heart hurt so much to say it. Speaking it out loud a second time only established what had happened. Peter was gone in his life for the foreseeable future. “He and I were working on an invention and he was just too smart. I didn’t see what he did. I was too busy in my own world, and then he was gone. Just like that.” Was the Tony Stark about to cry? Absolutely not! 

...

Even if he didn’t want to admit it, he was very close to crying. 

Pepper patiently waited for him to relax before speaking to him once more. A faint click indicated that she had unmuted her microphone. “I’ll be back soon, okay? I have a seat on the next flight.” She, like Rhodey, hadn’t really gotten to know Peter too well, but she had talked to him enough to respect him. This was a lot for her to deal with as well, but she knew that getting upset with Tony for not watching Peter would only make things worse. Tony needed someone to help him through this. She had seen what traumatic things did to him, such as with the Chitauri attack, and she could only hope it wouldn’t get nearly that bad. 

“Tony...I’m sorry. I’m sure Rhodey has already talked about this with you, but we will find a way to bring him back. You and I both know that Peter is a brilliant person and we have to put some trust in him.” She did have to be realistic, though, as new problems had now arrived. 

“I think it is in our best interest to contact May Parker as soon as possible. If you want me to do it, I will, but she will expect you to be the person to talk to her about this. If she wants to contact Peter’s friends as well, that’s fine, but you must leave some decisions up to her since it is her nephew that we are talking about.” Pepper let out a sigh and he could hear a rustling, possibly she was searching on her phone for something. “I’m not sure if you have her number; if you need it I have it right here.” 

Tony let out a shaky sigh before taking his phone out once more. “I think it’s best if I tell her to come...like you said, if you’re the person to do it, May will only hate me even more. She barely trusts me after she found out that I gave the kid a suit. Think about what she’ll feel when she finds out I’m the reason her nephew disappeared, possibly for good.” He shook his head and went quiet once more.

“We need to stay positive, Tony. Like I said, I’ll be back soon. I’ll help you comfort May, alright? It won’t be too long. It’ll be okay and everything will work out fine.” With that, the phone call ended and Tony was met with silence once more.

Slowly lowering his phone, his body felt numb. This would be the hardest phone call to make. How was he supposed to tell May she had possibly lost the last living family she had left? God...he had really fucked this up. 

After pressing a few buttons, he raised the phone to his ear, his body trembling. That damn familiar voice came on. “Hey! I hope you two are having fun. Peter called last night, seems super excited about testing out the new invention...but he didn’t tell me its name yet. What’s up?” 

God dammit. She was making this so hard for him! How was he supposed to deal with this. He should’ve left it with Pepper, someone who actually knows how to handle these sorts of things! “Okay, look. Something happened and before you start screaming at me, I need you to stay calm and just tell me how soon you can get here. I have a ride arranged for you already, I just need a time.” 

He could hear the change of breath and how her tone went from happy to angry and stressed. “Anthony Edward Stark, what have you done this time?”

“May...it’ll be best if I explain it in person. It’s not right for me to tell you this sort of thing over the phone. Please just stay calm. When can I send Happy to pick you up? I’ll even get food for you if you need it. Hell, you can even stay here overnight.” 

“You send Happy over immediately. Tony, if he has so much as a scratch on him, I will not hesitate to end you. And if he's seriously injured, I- I’ll-” Her voice broke off. “Tony, is my baby okay?”

“I understand. Happy is en route as we speak.” What else was there to say? How was he going to tell her ‘Oh yeah, he’s disappeared, so technically, not a scratch on him’. "Everything will be okay." He had chosen to ignore her last question.

With that, the phone call ended and he was met with silence. Before entering the room to join Rhodey, Tony called out to FRIDAY. “Tell Happy he needs to pick up May Parker and that it’s urgent she gets picked up as soon as he is able.” He didn’t care how long it took to actually get her to the compound, considering he needed as much time as possible to calm down and figure out what he was going to say.

Stepping into the room, the frown was evident on his face. “Rhodey, Pepper and May are on their way. What am I going to do?” As he spoke, Rhodey stood up and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

“Yeah...I’m screwed.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I'll try to post new chapters within 2 weeks. If there are any errors I'll try to correct it. 
> 
> So to the chapter! This is finally another Peter chapter. Tony won't appear for a while since he isn't the main focus. 
> 
> I know you guys have been waiting for a while so I'm pleased to say that the Guardians will appear soon! Maybe in the next chapter ;)
> 
> Thank you so much for all the comments and kudos. It really inspires me to write!

Sleeping was surprisingly easy once he left Norrin’s house and found a nice nook to sleep, possibly due to how overwhelming his emotions had been that day. No matter the reason, though, his sleep remained uninterrupted, which was a good thing because boy had he needed it. 

When he woke up the next day, he didn’t get up immediately; instead, he listened for a bit, taking in the distressingly unfamiliar sounds that surrounded him. Had Tony started some construction work in the Compound or something?

As Peter cracked his eyes open, the view of the city came as a shock. For a wonderful, blissful moment, he had forgotten about being sent to space and everything that he had experienced the day prior. All at once, his turbulent emotions from yesterday came crashing down on him like a pile of bricks. He wanted to be home with Tony and May...god, Aunt May. He couldn’t even try to fathom what she must be feeling right now. Surely Tony has already caught her up on the situation. Peter had been gone for over a day, or whatever was considered a day on this planet. Either way, he’d practically abandoned Aunt May and he hadn’t even attempted to get back home. He was a horrible nephew. 

Letting out a shaky sigh, he ran his hand through his hair. Getting home should be his first priority, absolutely, but in order to do that he’d need to make money to survive long enough to find a way back to Earth- that meant finding a job. 

What about that family yesterday? He could work for Norrin! Peter knew a lot about electronics, so funky alien ones shouldn’t be too weird! Then when he got back down to Earth, he could teach Mr. Stark all about the new technologies! Maybe they could replicate the translator and use it in daily life, since it appeared to be far more sophisticated than Google Translate. Peter could hardly contain his excitement. 

The family did seem pretty nice, and Norrin did say he could come back if needed. But… Peter deflated. He also didn’t want to impose on the family any more than he already had. They had been so kind enough to gift him with the translator and with food. Asking for a job and to be paid would be demanding too much, or at least that’s what Peter believed. They probably wouldn’t even want to deal with how much he ate on a regular basis, thanks to his enhanced spider-metabolism. 

Peter groaned softly and squeezed his hair in his fists, trying to think. The family… he had rescued their daughters, and by rescuing them, he had earned a reward. That had to be more than just a one-time thing, right? Maybe other people he rescued would be kind enough to also give him something! Food would be great or, hell, some may even give him money. It seemed a little outrageous, yet also completely plausible. If he really needed food, he could focus a bit more on helping restaurants. The thought did seem a little mean and deceiving, especially when he should be helping absolutely anyone instead of focusing on one business...but he did need to eat. Would it really be so selfish to focus on a specific type? He’d have to focus on that later, for now, he had a plan. 

Peter sat up and grinned, looking around himself. So many possibilities. Crimes had to happen on occasions, even in the most perfect cities. Surely, he could continue his duty as Spider-Man here while earning some cash at the same time. 

He pulled out the bag from the night before and dove into the food. Even when he had finished what was given to him, he was still starving. He knew that he didn’t have the money to buy new food, and it’d be pretty embarrassing and pathetic to beg for food. So, he decided, the only option would be to go on ahead and start with ‘work’. Hopefully, someone would be generous enough to donate.

Peter stood up and stretched, his joints letting out satisfying cracks and pops. He knew what happened when he didn’t stretch before a patrol. Cramps sucked, and man would it be embarrassing to cramp up as soon as he started swinging around. What a way that would be to make himself look good. 

Once he felt like he had loosened up enough, he started his day by hopping from rooftop to rooftop, checking to see what everyone was up to, or if anything disastrous had happened yet. Not that he wanted someone to be hurt or anything, just maybe a small robbery, or a cart that had crashed and needed help cleaning up the mess. 

Eventually, Peter made his way to an open air marketplace. Looking down at all the shops, he couldn’t help but smile slightly. This might be the perfect place! Unlike some of the ones from yesterday where each shop had a small nook, this one seemed to have much larger shops. Glancing around he finally saw it. His call to action!

Trying to be as stealthy as possible, he found a blind spot and climbed down onto the floor. Without his mask, he seemed to blend in pretty damn well. Moving through the crowd, he quickly made his way towards the location of his next heroic feat. The good deed he had found to do!

“Excuse me, miss. Do you uh...want some help?” Okay. It wasn’t a robber, or anything cool like that. It was a tiny old lady who couldn’t be anything taller than 5 foot even. She seemed to be struggling to reach the top shelf, and the shop owner was nowhere to be seen! Peter’s heart couldn’t stand to see her struggle, so he had to do something.

The old lady nodded and in a startlingly sweet voice, she responded with, “Why yes, please. It’s the red and orange pot at the very top. My old one broke, so I thought I’d get a new one! Be careful, young man, it’s heavy.” 

With a charming smile, Peter happily nodded and he managed to get the pot down for her quite easily. She had brought along a small cart with her, so he went on ahead and placed the pot on the cart. “Is there anything else I can do to help?” And that’s what started their mini shopping trip together.

Peter ended up helping her out a lot more than he had been expecting to. The shop didn’t seem to cater to people who were as short as her, so she was more than happy to accept his services. She didn’t need too much, only some food and spices. Once it was all done, she told him to go on ahead and wait in line. 

As he was waiting, she appeared at his side with what appeared to be an alien fruit. “You’re such a sweet boy, and you’ve helped me so much. Just wait for me to pay for everything and you can have it.” She wouldn’t even let him protest- when Peter tried to talk, she brushed him off with a wave of her hand. “You didn’t have to help an old fogey like me, but you chose to out of the goodness of your heart. You deserve it.” 

And that was how Peter got a nice mid morning snack, which his stomach was very happy about.

So far, things were going pretty swell.

The rest of the day wore on and included some actual crime fighting, like when someone tried to rob a shop, or when some miscreant attempted to pull off the typical purse snatch, or when a fist fight had broken out in a restaurant! That had to be the coolest thing Peter had dealt with that day so far. 

The best part was that after each of the events, Peter actually received compensation for his work. The shop robbery resulted in him being paid in… something. He had no idea how the currency on this planet worked, but he’d worry about that later. The young lady that had fallen victim to the mugging, who had skin of a cool gold color, ended up giving him some awesome candy. Then, finally, the owner of the restaurant had given him a free lunch! It was kinda like that gumbo stuff he, Uncle Ben, and Aunt May had enjoyed at this one New Orleans style restaurant.

Days passed, and Peter’s life continued to follow the same pattern. He stopped a few more robberies, another fight broke out, and he chased off a group of tall, creepy guys that had been harassing a pretty purple girl. And, like before, he was more often than not rewarded with a variety of gifts of gratitude. Sometimes it would be food, other times it was handfuls of what he could only assume was spare change. On one notable occasion, he had received a coupon to what seemed to be a local strip club… or maybe a ticket to a play. He couldn’t tell. 

He’d dropped by Norrin’s shop once to ask about how the currency system worked, and was now feeling a lot more confident in his abilities to support himself. Peter had even bought his own food for the first time! It had been super weird, though, because he had no idea what anything on the menu meant. 

It was around his fifth day, or what felt like his fifth day, that he had come face to face with a particularly annoying issue. It was late, much later than he usually patrolled on Zatryria. The street lamps were the only sources of light the area. Luckily, the situation happened to occur only one building away from the rooftop Peter had settled himself down on for the night. 

Two men were arguing, seemingly very angry, talking something about someone owing them and being late, or something like that. It was hard to tell. All Peter knew for certain was that the person they were interrogating kept letting out pain-laced yelps and gasps every few seconds. Shaking his head, Peter jumped over to the roof next to him and peered down. There was a really muscular man covered in tattoos, and at his side stood a skinnier guy with a mechanical arm. The buff one had their victim trapped against the wall while the skinny guy pressed his metal arm into the poor guy’s side. Every so often, the arm would move slightly and the guy would wince. Peter couldn’t tell if he was shocking or stabbing the man, but whatever was happening, it wasn’t good. 

Peter couldn’t stand to watch any longer. He leaped down from the roof gracefully, landing on his feet like a cat. The three men had yet to notice him. 

He jumped into action, using as much force as possible to yank the huge guy off and deliver a harsh kick to the other’s mechanical arm. The skinny man was much faster to respond than his friend, though, and he whirled around and pointed the arm at Peter. He made as if to fire, but only growled and yelled out, “You little shit! You jammed my gun!” 

The buff man tried to grab Peter, but thanks to his unnatural flexibility and strength, Peter easily danced out of his reach and found his way on the big guy’s shoulders. 

He shot a web at the skinny guy and yanked him forward, jumping away just in time to have the two be rammed into each other. 

The force of the collision knocked both men to the ground, and before Peter could do anything else, the man who had been interrogated pulled out a stun gun and used it on both of his assailants. “Thanks kid, I can take it from here.” 

It seemed weird, but Peter didn’t bother to ask. He could only assume that the guy would take this to the proper authorities. With a shrug, Peter swung off. The night was boring after that, so he went ahead and slept. 

The next day went along usually, except for some reason, his spider-sense started to go off around lunchtime. No matter where and how much he looked, he couldn’t figure out why he felt so on edge. 

Other than that, nothing too strange happened. He stopped the same types of robberies, helped a few people out whenever he could, and went to a restaurant. Try as he might, he couldn’t really figure out why that day felt so different from all the others, especially when his routine remained practically the same! Around midday, he kind of gave up on trying to figure out what was wrong and instead tried to just forget about it, though it didn’t really work. No matter how hard he tried to distract himself, his spidey-sense just kept nagging him. 

Around sundown, Peter found a spot on one of the roofs. He took a seat, his feet dangling over the side. As nice as all this was, he was really starting to get very homesick. Aunt May was probably worried sick about him, and all he could do was hope that it wouldn’t hurt her health. What if she panicked and somehow got hurt? It would be all his fault. Hopefully Mr. Stark would keep an eye on her. 

Even if they weren't very close, he was starting to miss Tony as well. Peter had been so excited to spend the summer with him!... But instead he was trapped up here in space.

At least Peter could hold on to a shred of hope. He had already started to save up on money, and he’d begun trying to find someone who might take him back to Earth. Based on what he had heard, it seemed like the best option. It was kinda like an alien version of Uber, just using space ships. 

As he sat there, his Spidey-sense suddenly became frenzied. Before he could even turn around, arms started to grab onto him. Peter tried to scream out, but a metal piece was slammed into his face, forcing his jaw to remain shut. Weird metal bands were placed on his arms that prevented him from moving them, and when he tried to move his legs, he was only pulled back onto the roof even farther. 

Peter tried to get a look at the people who were attacking him, but an electric shock was sent coursing through his body. His body convulsed and whimpers escaped his throat. His vision went white and another jab of pain stabbed through his neck, which he vaguely recognized as some type of injection due to the strange sensations that followed. 

His vision slowly went blurry and the last thing he saw was the beautiful sky above him as he finally closed his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for completely disappearing. A lot has happened and hopefully I'll be able to get back into the swing of writing! 
> 
> This is another Peter chapter! Soon, some well known friends shall be appearing ;) 
> 
> Also, I need everyone to do me a favor. I'm not sure if next chapter should be another Peter chapter or return back to Tony. So, in the comments, please say which one you'd like for me to publish first!

Unlike any of the other days that Peter had been in space, when he woke up, he was greeted with the foul stench of urine, metal, and sweat. The ground felt cold underneath him and the room itself was cold as well, causing him to shiver. His unfamiliar surroundings didn’t completely register to him until he opened his eyes and tried to stretch his arms, but was quickly prevented by restraints. 

A panic arose and his eyes flicked around the room nervously. Peter yanked on the restrains, but absolutely nothing happened. Of course, he hadn’t used all of his strength, but even so, the people who held him captive clearly knew about his superhuman abilities. 

The room he was in was small, like a prison cell. Three of the walls, including the one he was leaning against, were made of a dark gray metal with no other colors, except for rust and other imperfections that come from use. The fourth wall had two sets of bars that were no more than two inches apart with a glass in between them. Through it, Peter could make out more hallways, and even another cell or two. In his room was a cot, what looked like one of the many futuristic toilets he had encountered, and a stand that had been bolted to the wall- probably where his food would be placed on.

What if he was being imprisoned by the officials because his recent actions had been illegal? Nobody thus far had come in to tell Peter what exactly he had done wrong, or even where he was now. When he had been assaulted, he wasn’t able to truly make out any faces, and so he had no idea where he’d ended up. 

Time dragged on, and slowly a few other people started to wake up, but things remained eerily quiet, aside from someone getting up and shuffling around on a few small occasions. Since he had no way of telling time, Peter wasn’t sure how long he sat there waiting until a few people finally came to his cell. 

In the blink of an eye, his wrists latched together, forming handcuffs. The wall separating him and the men moved and two of the people walked in. They fiddled with a few things before one finally grabbed his wrists. “Get up. We have a lot to talk about.” The man wasn’t as violent as he could have been as he hauled Peter to his feet. 

Funnily enough, once out in the hall, the man let go of his prisoner and started to walk forward. With two men in front and two behind him, Peter was lead through the halls, passing by some cells and doors to rooms he could only imagine the purpose of. 

Was he going to be… tortured? If he was, Peter had no idea why. He hadn’t done anything wrong! All he had been doing for the last week was helping people out! From what he understood, he had only done his duty. These people had no reason to hold him here. 

It really didn't help that the four men weren't talking to him. At all. They stayed stoically quiet as they marched. It wasn't as if they were soldiers; no, they weren't walking in step. So if they weren't officers or soldiers, who could they be? Where the hell was he? 

Before he could think much further, a door opened and he was shoved inside. The room was pretty boring, really, with two chairs separated by a table. Aside from that, the walls behind the seats appeared to have some sort of screens. The two men who had grabbed Peter before ushering him over to a chair. As soon as he sat down, his wrists were separated and attached to the arm rests. Great. He still couldn't move! At least his feet were relatively free. The chair was bolted to the floor though, so there wasn't too much he could do without using a lot of energy. 

Peter wanted to say something to the men, maybe ask them some questions, but the two left before he could even get a word out. Just before the door shut, he heard them mutter about an ‘idiotic trader who couldn't tell the difference between a-’ Silence.

Very little time passed before the door opened once more. A man and a guard- he had to be a guard, he was a massive guy with an equally massive gun- entered the room. 

The other man looked to be about 5’11”. He had a full beard and a mustache, as well as a tan completion. He wore a white top with a jacket that covered his arms. At the base of his neck, Peter could make out a few tattoos. The guy’s outfit was a bit dirty and frayed at the ends, evidence that he had been using it for a while. These were just a few hints that gave Peter the idea that he wasn’t a normal officer.

The mysterious man took a seat in front of him and sighed, laying his hands down on the table. He seemed to be deep in thought, trying his best to figure out how to approach the situation. “I've been told a lot about you. At first, my men didn't care. You hadn't messed with us. You were too busy with small crimes, embarrassing ones.”

He tapped his fingers restlessly. “Of course, you decided to get in the way. Lucky for us, unlucky for you, we have eyes everywhere. Someone just happened to see you stopping two of my men. That guy you protected? He was a jackass. He owes me money. Was supposed to grab a few items for me but instead he used my resources. If it weren't my men at stake, I would've wanted to recruit you, yet instead you allowed them to be taken away to who the hell knows where.” The man look dead into Peter’s eyes and templed his fingers.

“You know, they said you had these great abilities. People followed you around for reconnaissance, and I can believe it. You can climb on walls, weird shit comes outta ya, and you seem to be super strong.” He shrugged. “I could use someone like you, really, but you fucked that over the moment you messed with my men.” He glanced over at his guard before turning back to face Peter. “You are gonna have to pay for what you did.” 

A spike of anxiety arose inside of Peter. Pay? He had no idea he had done anything wrong! Sure, he had put a lot of people in jail before, but none had ever been in a gang! If they had, the bosses never went after him. God dammit! All Peter wanted to do was help people out. This was just like the Vulture! 

Just thinking about that man caused Peter to start to shake. Keep it together, Peter. Keep it together. 

Before he could panic too much, the man spoke up again. “I can’t trust you to do work for me, but you’re too young to be killed. Plus, you could be useful. You worked odd jobs for a week straight, meaning you got a lot of energy inside of ya. I need that.” Energy? What? What the hell could he mean by that? Peter’s thoughts only spiraled down more and more in the negative direction before they were once again interrupted by the boss.

“You will follow my rules, as well as the guys above you, which is pretty much everyone. If you listen and make your daily quota, I’ll feed you. If you exceed it by one half, you get a blanket and a pillow. I reward good work with good things. Now if you don’t, on the other hand, you do not get fed. You will then have to catch up the next day. I will continue to starve you for up to a week, and at that point, you’ll need to see me personally. And trust me, I won’t be as reasonable as I am being right now.” 

That was a lot to take in. Peter’s thoughts were still pretty damn negative with this ‘daily quota’ stuff. Was he going to a- no! No. He had to stay positive. Even a gang leader wouldn’t sell him for dirty stuff like that. Despite Peter’s situation, the promise of food was nice, so maybe the work would reflect that? However, he didn’t agree with this whole ‘reasonable’ thing. If the man was so “reasonable”, then why did he have to come after him? 

“I’m sorry...but I don’t-” Peter began but he was cut off. 

Angrily, the man slammed his fist on the table, causing Peter to flinch. “Shut it, boy! I am being nice.” After a tense moment, he closed his eyes, exhaled. He leaned back into his chair and took a deep breath. “See what you did? You made me raise my voice.” He shook his head. “You will assemble parts for me. Like an...assembly line. What it’s for, you don’t need to know. All you need to know is that you will refer to me as Zarek. You will treat me with respect. You will only speak when I tell you to.” 

Peter, in an attempt to not piss Zarek off again, nodded along. He knew better than to speak up and make this situation even worse. In the meantime, he was already coming up with an escape plan. If Peter followed all the rules and acted obedient, maybe he could eventually find a way to slip away. Plus, for all he knew, the other prisoners could already be planning a breakout! Hopefully this Zarek guy wasn’t a mind reader, because various ideas of rebellion had already started to run laps around Peter’s mind. Suddenly, he realized his captor was still talking to him.

“You will follow the schedule and listen to the orders of my men. If you want to fight with the other ‘employees’, feel free, I don’t really care.” As if on cue, the door opened back up. A man brought in a black box, which appeared to be empty. “I will need you to deposit anything on you aside from what you are wearing. I do provide uniforms for all my workers, but I will allow you to keep what you have on for today. Your new clothes will be in your room by tonight. We do not have time for you to change right now, as you need to learn what to do.” 

Zarek stared into Peter’s eyes before gesturing towards the box. The boy let out a sigh and hesitantly removed his web shooters, depositing them in the box. “Leave your translator on, please.” The man told him. 

Peter felt almost naked without his web shooters. This made escape even harder, since he now had to figure out how to get them back. “I...I don’t really have anything else. It’s all in my bag.” Where was his bag, anyways? Peter would have asked, but considering that Zarek didn’t seem to like questions, he chose to remain quiet. 

Luckily for Peter, the question was sort of answered. “We will keep all of your belongings locked up. I may run a gang, but I won’t let my men get their hands all over your stuff.” Peter assumed this was to guard against betrayal. Possibly his men had, in the past, given prisoners their items back. Then again, this was all just a theory that Peter was using to distract himself from the reality of the situation. 

Before he knew it, another man entered the room and removed his wrists from the arm rests, only to attach them together once more. “Briyq will take you to your workstation. You will learn what to do from there.” And, just like that, Zarek, his body guard, and the man with his web shooters were gone, leaving Peter alone with whoever was sent to take him to his duties. 

“Up. Come on.” Despite the harsh words, the man’s tone of voice was much softer than Zarek’s. There was a faint accent , one that almost resembled a Scottish one. Once Peter got to his feet, he was able to get a good look at him. Thin body with a slight green tint to it, as well as crooked teeth. The man, who must have been Briyq, waited a few seconds before walking forward, clearly expecting Peter to follow after him.

As the two walked down the halls, Peter remained silent, taking in the sights around him. The ship was a bit run down and messy, unlike the beautiful city he had stayed in only yesterday. It hurt to know he had fallen from a brilliant place to a dump like this. 

Before he knew it, they arrived in a large, open room. Inside, various people sat at long tables. From where Peter was, it just looked like a normal assembly line. And it was. One person would screw something together and pass it along to the next, who would prepare the next part. It was an odd way to make prisoners pass the time, but Peter wouldn’t complain. He had seen, and read, enough science fiction to know that this punishment was light in comparison to what he could be forced to do.

Briyq spoke up suddenly; Peter jumped slightly. “So. You’re gonna go over to that really big guy over with the blue-ish skin. He’s got be ol’ horns, and ‘e’s very hairy. He’ll tell you what to do. The person who’s normally his right hand man got into a fight the other day, so… looks like you’re replacing them!” The big guy in question had an empty seat in front of him. Even from where Peter stood, he could tell that the guy was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of work he was doing. 

With a light push on the shoulder, off Peter went, heading over to the man described. As he walked along the tables, his eyes wandered. The work seemed simple enough, though he had to question the ethics of it all. It seemed that each person was given a basket of parts to work with. Once they completed their task, they would add to the basket next to them and get to work on a new set. It was organized chaos, in a way. 

All too soon, he sidled up beside the man. Gulping, Peter spoke. “Um. Hey… so this other dude, Briyq, just told me to come to you. You know. So you can show me what to do.” Why did he feel so anxious? 

The man turned his head and gestured to the empty seat. “Sit.” His voice was very deep, but held no anger. The guy sounded American. 

Hesitantly, Peter got into position and silently waited for instruction. “Basically, you and I are gonna be working together in a way. You have a basket of components that was made on the other end of the room. This is how they decide on your daily quota, by the way. I will hand you the part that I finish and then you attach the wires. Blue and blue attach, then yellow and yellow attach.” As the man spoke, he pointed to each of the wires and the basket. 

Peter tried his best to follow along, but that was hard when he wasn't sure if he could even pick up the components yet. Luckily, that problem was quickly fixed. “Go on ahead and get the stuff. I'll walk you through the first one, after that just nudge me if ya need my help.” As Peter picked up the pieces, the man spoke once more. “By the way, you can call me Arty.” 

Actually putting it together was pretty simple. Arty was a decent teacher and he remained calm the entire time, not once getting mad at Peter for going too slow or hesitating. 

Arty checked one last time to make sure Peter understood what to do and off he went. In the first hour, he was pretty slow, but soon he got into a rhythm and picked up the pace. Towards the end of his shift, Arty had already finished up, so he helped him in order to finish his quota. 

The food was mediocre and slightly better than cafeteria food. It was a bread thing, some noodles, and alien vegetables. 

After everyone ate, he was sent to his own personal room. The common worker outfit had been laid out on his bed, but Peter chose to stay in his normal clothes. Sleep took a while, but eventually he drifted off. 

Breakfast proved to be similar to dinner, except instead of noodles it was what looked like scrambled eggs but tasted more like a sausage. While normally he would've questioned it, Peter was hungry and he wasn't about to lose his food. 

Thus, a cycle had been born. He'd wake up, eat breakfast, work, eat dinner, and then finally sleep. There would be a break or two in order for the workers to use the bathroom or stretch, otherwise he sat down for what felt like hours. After the first two days, Peter would stay up late in order to pace around his room. Sitting for so long was something he did in school, but not to this extreme. 

About three days in, he tried his best to get to know Arty, but a guard told them to shut up. The most he learned was that the guy had a set of twins, a boy and a girl. That he was sent here because his brother was killed and owed the gang money. It sounded like a typical story, but Peter couldn't help but feel bad. He wanted to ask more questions, but apparently the workers aren't allowed to talk too much. 

It was a couple of days later that something actually happened. It was after their third break of the day, which meant only a couple more hours before food. Peter’s hands were cramping, as were his legs, and man he just wanted to be able to run around again. At this point, he could put together the parts with his eyes closed, and for someone like him, it hurt to be stuck with such a monotonous task. 

Things were going like normal before there was a loud thud and a lurch of the ship, followed by all the lights going out. Peter gripped onto the table and looked around. “Hey…Arty...is this normal? Like every other week the ship has to do this…?”

Arty stayed quiet for a while. “Just go with what they say. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but do what you think is right. Don't worry about me.” That was not what Peter wanted to hear. What was this, the final line of a Disney character before they die?

Guards began to appear, carrying lights. “Everyone remain seated! Those who get up will be punished severely!” Which earned the exact opposite as a couple of men stood up and charged the guards. The lights with the guards barely showed anything, but the fight seemed decently intense. A couple of guards went down and soon, one of the men did as well. That was almost a cue for three more men to get up, including Arty. The guards kept yelling out for backup and for everyone to stop, which did absolutely nothing to help the situation.

As the fighting went on, Peter focused his senses on listening for things in other parts of the ship. More guards heading towards them. The captain of the ship’s voice was faint, but he seemed angry about something. And finally...music? One of them seemed angry, but the voice was too muffled to truly make out anything. 

Some of the lights turned on, but only the ones in the halls. Then, a brand voice appeared through the speakers. 

“This is your new Captain speaking. Just thought I'd let all you guys know that the jackass who trapped you guys here is currently in the engine room. All of the doors have been unlocked so go wild!” Followed by some laughter. “Oh yeah. There’s some escape pods so you can escape this hell hole.” With that the voice clicked off. 

As the men filed out of the room, Peter was left alone. Shoot. Was he supposed to follow and help? Or maybe he could go on ahead and find the escape pod.

He shook his head and ran in the opposite direction, leaving the main room. If his memory served properly, the guards normally came from this way. Hopefully that would mean that his stuff would be this way, because he needed his web shooters. 

Peter turned right and headed even farther away from his previous location before arriving to a room. The wall was marked in an alien language, but his translator went to work and changed it to ‘stolen belongings’. Well, that was obvious. 

Just before he was about to push open the door, he picked up on a few voices. Two men and two girls. He focused more and began to decipher their words. 

“Rocket needs to hurry up.” Came from an agitated female. 

“Look. He's gonna do what he needs to do. With those goons gone, we can get all the parts they stole and take them to the royal family.” A male voice stated. He seemed a lot more calm than the girl. “We will be out of here soon, chill out.”

Peter stayed quiet, still listening in on them before…

“Someone is outside.” A new female voice stated. Peter froze in fear and started to back up. Why couldn't he run? Why wouldn't his body move?

Then. The door opened.

**Author's Note:**

> I do not have any social media that I will actually really use(i.e. tumblr, twitter, etc)  
> If I do post this on another site(I have an unused deviantart account) then I will let you guys know on here, otherwise it isn't me  
> But I do hope you guys are enjoying the story. This is my first fanfiction ever so I'm still learning.  
> Shoutout to my Beta reader for helping me with this.


End file.
